NIAGARA FALLS, Ont. - A massive, suggestively shaped flower more than two metres high is blooming in Niagara Falls, Ont. _ the first time it has flowered in Canada.

Experts at the Niagara Parks Floral Showhouse say one specimen of the rare Amorphophallus titanum has opened.

But they say the bell-shaped plant won't last long and its centre spike has already started to droop.

By Sunday, it will likely have turned into a "tree-like stalk."

Experts say the unusual flower, whose name means "misshapen phallus," has bloomed in a botanical garden only 21 times.

The plant _ considered the tallest flower species in the world _ gives off a unique smell most often compared to rotting meat.

Parks staff say a second flower is expected to bloom in the coming weeks.

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This plant, at botanic gardens in Kiel, Germany, began blooming this Thursday (22 March).
Braver visitors could get close enough to smell the corpse flower, which will only be on show for a short number of days before it wilts, returning years from now.

A visitor takes in a deep, deep breath of the horrid flower at the University of Connecticut last summer.
That particular plant has only blossomed twice since 1994.

Brussels, Belgium has a titan arum plant, seen here last in its common state, wrapped up inside itself waiting for the right time to release its ungodly stench.

A young girl stands beside the Eden Project's amorphophallus titanum.
It measures at 9ft 6in, making it one of the largest in the world.

Sydney's Royal Botanic Gardens contains a corpse flower, seen here provoking, as it most often does, a negative reaction.
The flower is a native to Indonesian rainforests.

Another shot of The Eden Project's corpse flower, which was nurtured by one of the centre's horticulturists, pictured beside the plant.